Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Player Profile: Ricky Adams

I have two cards of Ricky Adams. This one is from 1986 Topps.

Playing Career: Ricky Adams played parts of three seasons for the Angels and Giants between 1982 and 1985, primarily as a shortstop.

My memories: In the 1980s there used to be a book called “The Scouting Report” which had a page on each player, team by team, detailing their strengths and weaknesses. It was usually pretty entertaining. I remember I used to take one out of my local library from time to time when I was a kid, and the first player on the first page was Adams of the Angels.

Where he is now: Adams is currently battling stage four melanoma. The cancer is in his leg, hip, liver, chest and spine. He is using radiation treatment as well as experimental cancer drugs. He lost as much as 40 pounds but recently gained back ten and believes he is getting better. He is on medical leave from his sales job at Robertson’s Ready Mix Concrete and has suspended giving baseball lessons. You can help his family out by donating to the Ricky Lee Adams Foundation here.

Interesting stories: Adams’s Angel teammate, Rod Carew, was Adams’s mentor. Interviewed by the OC Register about Adams and his cancer, Carew recalled Adams prank calling him in the early morning, saying “ET Phone Home.” (ET came out in 1982, Adams’s first year in the major leagues). The next day, Adams came to the ballpark and was told to go to the dugout to see manager John McNamara. Thinking he was being sent back to the minors, he instead found Carew laughing at him, and Adams saw all of his belongings on the field in Comiskey Park, getting soaked by the rain.

Google Autocomplete Results: Ricky Adams is first when you type in Ricky Ad, ahead of Ricky Adams Facebook. The first result when you Google Ricky Adams is music theorist Ricci Adams. Another prominent Ricky Adams is a country singer in Texas.